Paper cartridge and method of and means for treatment thereof



Patented July 27, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Hobson F. Miller, Oceanside, N. Y.

No Drawing. Application June 27, 1934,

Serial N0. 732,665

4 Claims.

This invention relates to means and a method for treating the exposed edges-of rolls or stacks of paper, for the purpose of improving the quality and handling characteristics of the paper taken from'such stack, or drawn from such roll, in printing, perforating, stacking and punching operations performed by various kinds of machin ery adapted for those purposes; and to the roll or stack of paper so treated as a new article of manufacture. I

The description which follows relates to a specific application of the invention, namely, the treatment of rolls of paper which are to be used in bill-form printing machines of the type which draw a continuous web of paper from a feed roll, and print legends and figures thereon,. address the same, and perforate, number, cut off and stack individual customers bills in condition for placing in envelopes and mailing. Such machines, in common use today, turn out many thousand individual customers bills per day, and

, require a paper feed of as nearly as possible uniform quality and handling characteristics.

Among the difficulties which have heretofore.

been met with are that the paper at times has a tendency to curl as it passes through the machine which interferes with the printing, cutting and other operations therein, and with the stacking of the severed sections which are delivered by the machine; that at certain times the paper acquires aconsiderable charge of static and in consequence thereof the severed portions, as they are delivergd by the machine, are difficult to handle and have a tendency to adhere to each other or to parts of the machine; that welts sometimes form on the ends of'the paper roll, forming humps on the side of the web of the paper which tend to catch on the guides and to stop the feed of the paper or cause-tearing thereof; and that the normal deposit of lint on thecut edges of the paper, necessarily produced by cutting knives in the paper mill, tends'to collect in the printing machine and there to become mixed with dust and oil tending to clog the mechanism and the type-face, and to thicken the ink, reguiring'frequent stoppage of themachine for cleaning purposes. These difliculties are inherent and recognized problems in the operation of high speed bill-form printing machines, and so far as I am aware no satisfactory method has heretofore been devised for minimizing or overcoming them.

Among the objects of the present invention are to provide means and a method for treating.

rolls or stacks of paper as they come from the cutting machinery, for reducing in large measure the tendency of the paper to curl under adverse .conditions of temperature and humidity, for reducing in large measure the tendency of welts or humps to form on the ends of the paper roll under the same conditions, for reducing in large measure the formation of static charges in the paper causing it to become unmanageable, and for eliminating entirely the accumulation of lint inthe printing machinery in which the paper is employed.

In large size bill-form printing machines rolls of paper are mounted within the machine for rotation therein, and a continuous web is drawn therefrom between guides. In one type of such machine, which may be used for purposes of i1- fragments or fibre produced by the ,cutting'or slitting knives. Necessarily, also, the exposed edges of the paper at each end of the 17-inch roll present unprotected paper fibres to the atmosphere, without the protection of the normal surface sizing.

In the ordinary roll of paper as now furnished by paper mills for the bill-form printing machines, the various edges of the paper do not all lie in exactly the same plane at the end of the roll. Some slight irregularity is necessarily produced in the machines which roll the paper at the mill. Thus certain layers of paper project outwardly beyond others, and these projecting layers become sourcesof additional lint because of the fraying which occurs when the rolls are handled.

I have found that such rolls are highly sensitive to atmospheric conditions of humidity and that the tendency of the paper to become unmanageable in the printing machine (either by curling,

change in size, raising of welts on the ends, or accumulation of static charges) is in part at least traceable to the facility with which atmospheric moisture may penetrate the fibres of the paper through the exposed ends thereof, or contained moisture within the fibres may evaporate to the atmosphere.

According to the preferred form of the present invention each end of a roll of paper of a size suitable for use in a bill-form printing machine is first treated, by spraying, painting or otherwise applying, with a liquid sealing material sufiiciently fluid in character to be adapted to penetrate the paper fibres in the exposed edges of the sheets at the end of the roll, and having the property of hardening or drying within the fibres into a relatively hard moisture-resisting solid. Such liquid sealing materials include shellac, varnish, lacquer, starch sizing, animal sizing (glue), resin sizing, or aluminum paint, either with or without the addition of a pigment. Of the substances named, I prefer, however, to use shellac, which appears to give themost satisfactory results. The liquid sealing material penetrates the edges of the paper and'impregnates the fibres thereof to an extent sufficient, upon drying or hardening, to make an efiective seal, tending to prevent rapid absorption or giving ofi of moisture by the fibres within the paper. Sufiicient liquid is applied to penetrate the edges of the paper to a depth sufiicient to maintain an effective seal after a portion of the surface of the end of the roll has thereafter been removed, as set forth below. Penetration to a depth of one-eighth of an inch will ordinarily be sufiicient for this purpose. In this form of the invention if some excess remains, no harm is done since it will be removed in the succeeding steps of treatment.

When the sealing material applied to the end of the roll has dried or hardened, the ends of the roll are then abraded or polished by means of fine sand-paper, or a carborundum polishing machine, or fine emery cloth until a smooth surface is obtained. It is desirable that this operation be carried far enough so that all projecting layers of paper are leveled off, and irregularities in the surface of the end of the roll are eliminated. Ordinarily about one-sixteenth to one thirtysecond of an inch of paper, in the average sheet, is removed by .the abrasive, but the amount of paper removed by the abrasive should be insufiicient to expose paper fibres which have not been enced with the handling, qualities of the paper.

abrasion. will not break the seal formed withinthe paper fibres at the edge of each sheet.

-When the roll has been treated in the preferred mannerv above described, I have found that each of the dificulties heretofore ordinarily experiin a bill-form printing machne is overcome to a pronounced degree. Paper drawn from a roll so treated has a markedly reduced tendency to curl in the printing machine, and a markedly reduced tendency to accumulate a charge of static. Furthermore, the tendency for welts or humps to form on the end of the roll indamp weather is substantially reduced and nearly eliminated. Finally, I have found that the accumulation of lint in the printing machine, wh ich is a characteristic of all such machines heretofore used, has been completely eliminated, and such machines may be run for long periods without. the appearance of any lint and without clogging of the type or sions.

thickening of the ink or other attendant disadvantages. Nor does the sealing material cause the sheets to stick together.

By first applying the sealing liquid or material to the end of the roll as it comes from the mill, and then removing excess sealing material, paper fibres and lint by the subsequent abrading or polishing steps of the process, rolls of an exact length can be manufactured and, when so made, will be substantially free of subsequent tendency to shrink, expand, curl, or accumulate charges of static due to changes in atmospheric humidity. Such sequence of steps therefor constitutes the preferred form or embodiment of this invention.

However, by changing the order of steps as set forth below, many of the advantages above described can also be obtained. For example, if the abrading or polishing and cleaning steps are first employed on the end of the rough roll, as it comes from the mill, a smooth surface is obtained to which the liquid sealing material above described may then be applied. Paper which has been treated in this manner will be noticeably improved in respect to its tendency to curl, change in size, form welts and accumulate a charge of static, and if care is taken not to apply an excess of liquid sealing material to the end of the roll the sheets will not stick together nor tear in the printing machine. While the accumulation of lint in a printing machine from paper rolls treated in this manner is also greatly reduced, it is my present belief that somewhat better results in this respect are obtained when the rough roll is first treated with a sealing material and afterwards polished as in the preferred form described above.

According to this alternate form of my invention, therefore, the ends of the rough rolls as they come from the cutting machinery at the mill, are first abraded or polished by any of the means above described till a smooth surface is obtained. As much paper may be removed as de-' sired, preferably until the length of the roll has been exactly established at the desired dimen- Then the ends may be wiped or brushed or vacuum-cleaned.

To the end of the roll, as so prepared, is then applied, by spraying, painting or otherwise, a suitable sealing material which may be one of the liquid sealing materials mentioned above, or any other material capable of making an effective seal in or on the edges of the paper without causing these edges to stick together and without itself having sufiicient body to flake OE and have a detrimental effect comparable to that of lint. In applying such a substance, care must be exercised to avoid applying an excess thereof, lest the sheets adhere to each other and tear in the printing machine, and lest the excess tend to flake and clog the printing machinery.

According to a third form of my invention, the rough ends of the rolls as they come from the cutting machinery at the paper mill, are not subjected to an abrading or polishing or cleaning step, but the sealing material, as described above, is applied in the manner stated, taking care to avoid such excess thereof as will cause adjacent sheets of paper to stick together and cause tearing. lhis form of the invention does not accomplish elimination or reduction of lint, but it realizes each of the other advantages hereinabove set forth and is useful where lint is noobjection but where it is desired to reduce static, curling v tendency, change of size, shrinkage, and other ably due to changes arising from atmospheric humidity.

It is my present belief and understanding that my invention is applicable either to rolls or to stacks of paper (referred to generally as a cartridge in the annexed claims) and wherever it is desired to reduce the tendency of the sheets to curl or distort or collect a charge of static, because of changes in the moisture content. It is my understanding that these advantages may also be usefully attained where lint formation is unimportant. For these reasons my invention is herein set forth in three forms or modifications.

It will be understood however that the first or preferred form of the invention as herein described, has its most particular field of usefulness in connection with bill-forming machines of the character described where the conditions are such that it is important not only to control curling, welting and static accumulation, but also to prevent the formation of lint.

While I have named above all of the seal forming substances now known to me as being adaptable to give satisfactory results in the practice be regarded as within the scope of my invention, 1 as defined in the claims which follow.

I claim: 1. In the art of preparing a paper roll for use in high speed web printing machinery, the steps of coating both ends of the roll with a penetrating liquid which hardens to a moisture-resisting solid, and abrading the hardened coating to remove excess coating material without exposing paper fibers which have not been impregnated with said liquid. I

2. In the art of preparing a paper roll for us in high speed web printing machinery, the steps of applying to both ends of the roll a sealing material sufficiently fluid in character to impregnate the paper at the edges thereof exposed at the ends of said roll and adapted to harden therein to form a moisture-resisting solid, and removing a portion of the impregnated paper at each end of the roll sufiicient to remove excess sealing material without exposing portions of the paper which have not been impregnated with said sealing material.

3. In the art of preparing a paper roll for use in high speed web printing machinery, the steps of applying to both ends of the roll a sealing material sufficiently fluid in character to impregnate the paper at the edges thereof exposed at the ends of said roll and adapted to harden therein to form a moisture-resisting solid, and removing a portion of the impregnated paper at each end of the roll suflicient to remove excess sealing material and projecting portions of the paper so as to establish a smooth surface free from lint without exposing portions of the paper which have not been impregnated with said sealing material.

4. A process according to claim 2 wherein the said removal is efiected by abrasion.

HOBSON F. MILLER. 

